THE EFFECTS OF THREE SELECTED EXERCISE TRAINING PROGRAMS ON SOME CARDIOVASCULAR RISK FACTORS IN ADOLESCENT SOCCER PLAYERS

Ischemic heart diseases have been the world’s leading causes of death during the past decade. Accordingly, this study investigated the effects of three selected exercise training programs on some cardiovascular risk factors in adolescent soccer players.
A total of 48 adolescent soccer players were enrolled in this study (age 13.46±0.74 years) and were divided into four groups (n=12). Group A alternatively performed an endurance training, strength training and sprint in 15 training sessions. Group B underwent endurance training for the first 5 sessions, strength training for the next five consecutive sessions and sprint training for the last five sessions. Group C was given all three factors of endurance, strength, and speed during the fifteen sessions of exercise within one session. Group D (control group) continued with their daily football routines. Demographic variables such as weight, body fat percentage, body mass index, total cholesterol (TC), Triglyceride (TG), High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) levels and Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) were measured in these adolescents. Data were entered into SPSS 18 statistical software and were analyzed by descriptive statistics and ANOVA test.
In the post-test, the levels of TC, TG and HDL changed significantly in Group C in comparison with the pre-test (P Many serious diseases in adulthood have their origins in adolescence and the result of the present study indicated that three type exercise training programs resulted in enhancing some of the metabolic factors related to cardiovascular risk in the adolescent football players; however, it is worth mentioning that each type of training can have unique benefits.